RON COWDEN: What ever happened to personal responsibility?

Posted by MNA Staff on September 1st, 2019

TO THE EDITOR:

The recent guest columns published on Aug. 29 in the Manistee News Advocate concerning the value of college and the student debt that is growing gives much reason to think about the direction in which our young people are headed.

Yes, college may be a good choice, but at they considering the financial consequences? Are they leaving college with debt well beyond their ability to pay?

Elizabeth Warren, Bernie Sanders and the Socialist side of the Democratic Party are promoting that student loan debt be forgiven and even that college be free for future students. My simple question: Who pays for it? Where does the responsibility of students and choices they make enter the arena? Who is responsible for the consequences?

As a student, if you were smart enough to get into college, you should have been smart enough to figure out if the cost of the education you were receiving would allow you to pay off your loans in a reasonable amount of time. If not, maybe you should have carefully considered your options.

Should you have gone to a community college the first two years and a four-year college the last years? Like a number of students, myself included, work part time or work full time to save for college. Compare the costs of several colleges and consider the least expensive. Have career goals in mind when you go to school to evaluate if there will be job opportunities after graduation.

Consider the consequences. Why should taxpayers pay for your lack of planning or self-restraint?